The blog contains articles by the author which appear in various newspapers in Kashmir and are also available on the website: www.kashmirfirst.com

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Kashmir’s Own Air Service

(The operation of a private
helicopter service is welcome but it needs full government backing from the
State and the Centre to succeed)

Recently the
announcement about the formation of a private limited company, Kashmir Air
Services was made by some local entrepreneurs known as Dar brothers. They have
been operating a reputed timber company known as Dar Timber Company. They are
also in hotel business. According to press reports the entrepreneurs have
already done the ground work like approaching the Directorate General of Civil
Aviation and so on. They intend to operate a helicopter service to various
Tourist Resorts and some other places which sometimes remain cut off especially
during winter such as Tanghdar, Drass, Kargil and Uri. They claim to have
selected key professionals to operate these services. Initially they plan to
induct six helicopters. They may also operate services to Shri Amarnath Ji Cave
and Vaishnov Devi Ji Shrine. They have also indicated possible operation of an
air ambulance. The initiative is most welcome and timely and is in fact most
needed. However, the question is how soon their proposals will be cleared by
various authorities?

Incidentally,
the State Government itself had taken a decision couple of decades back to
start such services. In fact, a Department of Civil Aviation was set up which
still exists! Some helicopters and a small plane were procured for the purpose
but unfortunately after sometime the state authorities developed cold feet and
the fleet of the aircraft remained for the use of the Chief Minister and other
important officials. The state government has been going in a see saw manner in
this regard. There never was a genuine interest and a really sincere effort
even though such air services by helicopters and small aircraft are very urgently
needed especially during winter. The state government has mostly been depending
upon the Indian Air Force to operate courier services through M-17 helicopters
during winter to cut off places like Tanghdar, Gurez, Zanskar and so on. For
these services the Air Force charges are quite high. Sometime back the State
Government had also taken on lease two helicopters from the Pawan Hans limited.
These were operated to Gurez, Tanghdar and sometimes to Kargil and Zanskar. One
was later on kept at Vaishnov Devi Ji shrine for taking Pilgrims up from Katra.
A small aircraft service was also started between Jammu and Rajouri but was
subsequently discontinued. In fact, Ghulam Nabi Azad, the then Civil Aviation
Minister also travelled in a small aircraft on a maiden flight to Kargil for a
survey but the flight never started. For reasons best known to the government,
no one has so far seriously considered operation of a regular helicopter or
small aircraft flight to these far flung cut off areas especially during
winter.

Incidentally for
some years starting from 1987 Pawan Hans helicopter leased by the state
government was regularly used in winter to ferry heli-skiers from Srinagar
Airport to Centaur Hotel and then from there to Gulmarg and Sonamarg. The
French heli-ski expert Sylvain Saudan used his own small French Lama (Cheetah)
helicopter in Gulmarg and Sonamarg for heli-skiing. These operations continued
even during the turmoil of nineties! A similar operation can be again started
for current winter as there would be many foreign skiers interested in coming
to Gulmarg. They can be ferried straight from Srinagar airport to Gulmarg.

In view of these
possibilities, it is more than welcome if a private initiative has been taken
in regard to the operation of a helicopter service to various tourist resorts
and cut off places. The state government needs to encourage and assist such
ventures. A similar initiative from reputed domestic and international airlines
needs to be encouraged for operating international flights from the Srinagar
Airport to South East Asia like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and in the
Middle East to Dubai and Jeddah. Even flights to Central Asian destinations
like Tashkent, Coolab (the burial place of Shah-i-Hamadan is in Khatlan
Province of Tajikistan) could be very viable. Unfortunately, all these
initiatives have to pass through the prism of “Security” which shoots these
down without any argument. Even night flights from the airport are still
hanging fire. One hears that these would be soon started.

But there is still a “Security” question mark!
If Kashmir has to revive Tourism and provide succor to stranded patients in far
flung areas, the “Security” grid has to take a broad minded decision and not
only allow but encourage such initiatives. However, keeping the past in view,
one has to keep the fingers crossed and wait to see if the private initiative
really materializes!